WHAT IS BLUE TOMATO?
blue-tomato.com, operated by Blue Tomato GmbH, is an internationally-focused online store that generates eCommerce net sales primarily in Germany as well as in Switzerland and Austria. With regards to the product range, blue-tomato.com achieves the greatest part of its eCommerce net sales in the 'Fashion' category. Furthermore, products from the 'Toys, Hobby & DIY' category are part of the offer. The online store was launched in 1997.
BLUE TOMATO HISTORY
Starting from humble beginnings as a snowboarding school and garage shop in Schladming, Austria, Blue Tomato have established themselves as one of the world's major omni-channel retailers around snowboarding, skateboarding and other branches of the boarding sports and subculture.
Gerfried Schuller was not only the world's very first snowboarding world champion but also a forward-thinking entrepreneur. What began as the Blue Tomato snowboarding school back in Austrian wintersports resort Schladming, in 1988, quickly outgrew Schuller's mum's garage. Within a few years, he became the outfitter of choice for the 'cool kids' on their snowboards. In 1994, the first brick and mortar store opened, followed by a pioneering online store in 1999. Today, Blue Tomato offers 450,000 products from 600 brands, both up-and-coming and established, while employing a team of 560. These are the four major success factors to take on board from Blue Tomato:
Genuine passion makes for good business
Blue Tomato lives and breathes passion for boarding and the accompanying lifestyle. This is not only true for founder Gerfried Schuller. Even since he retired as Blue Tomato's CEO in 2017, it has been the company's creed to on-board people with a passion for the sport and subculture.
Of course, passion alone won't make a company successful. It often makes a big difference however, when it comes to factors essential for long-term economic success: ideas, engagement, stamina - and a credible enthusiasm that spreads.
Mastering your niche
From the start, Blue Tomato focused on a niche strategy. Growing together with the emerging snowboarding trend, they extended their product range around a clearly defined core, from snowboard to skateboard to surfboard to longboard to free skiing. In this niche, Blue Tomato offers an extremely broad range of established and new brands, which spoils their individualistic clientele with choice. At the same time, the company still consciously positions itself as non-mainstream brand, staying true to their target buyers who strongly identify with their subculture lifestyle.
Innovative channel management
Blue Tomato has always jumped on innovative sales channels early. It was a pioneer of ecommerce already by 1999, and has been an early investor in promising trends to do with the customer journey ever since.
Blue Tomato was founded more than 25 years ago and has developed into one of the largest shops in Europe for boardsports and fashion. Blue Tomato now has over 400 employees in Austria and Germany.
The enthusiastic snowboarder and European snowboard champion Gerfried Schuller founded the largest snowboard school in Austria in 1988 and thus formed the basis for a success that continues to this day. What started with a garage sale ('Gerrys Garage') was the beginning of a success story. In 1994 Blue Tomato opened its first shop in Schladming and just a few years later, in 1997, the great potential of online trading was recognized and Blue Tomato launched the first version of blue-tomato.com.
Over the years, the Blue Tomato brand has grown and established itself in the boardsports scene. Today Blue Tomato is one of the leading online shops in Europe. A wide range of goods is offered with products from the snowboard, freeski, skate and surf sectors. But Blue Tomato not only offers hard goods, the selection of snowwear, streetwear, shoes and accessories is also one of the most diverse in Europe. This shows the product range with over 450,000 products and more than 650 different brands.
In summer 2012, Blue Tomato was acquired by the US action sports retailer Zumiez. Zumiez has 600 stores in the US and Canada and the number of stores continues to grow. Both companies aim to jointly create a worldwide market of enthusiastic customers and set the standard for action sports and lifestyle retailers on a global basis.
In the early days, the main focus was on Blue Tomato's good online presence. The importance of the online shop has not been neglected in recent years, but it has been recognized how important stationary shops are. That is why Blue Tomato continued to expand and opened a large number of shops in Austria and Germany.
BLUE TOMATO IN HELSINKI
The casual styles of top brands like Burton, Volcom, Thrasher, adidas Skateboarding, Vans, Nike SB or Roxy transform our shop into a real boarder's paradise − no matter if you're cruising on snow, water or concrete. We have the finest selection of snowwear, streetwear, sneakers, watches and many other accessories in our shop. Come in and browse through the hottest brands and latest trends with good music and professional advice.
With more than 450,000 products, an annual turnover of over 98 million euros last year and now more than 600 employees, Blue Tomato is one of the world's largest online retailers in the snowboard, freeski, skateboard, surf and street style sectors. But the company is also quite successful offline and has locations in Germany, Austria, Finland, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Now the 50th store is opened.
The new shop is centrally located in Ulm, across from the Münster, and offers trendy styles from top brands such as Burton, Volcom, Thrasher, adidas Skateboarding, Vans, Nike SB, Globe and Rip Curl. "It's a true paradise for everyone who shares our passion for snowboard, freeski, skateboard, surf and street style. We offer the best selection of streetwear, sneakers and accessories for women, men and children as well as the right equipment for ours Sports ", says Tillmann Ruprecht, Director of Sales & Service. Numerous promotions and specials are planned for the opening, such as a free beanie from a purchase value of 50 euros, free drinks, a wheel of fortune or a photo box.